Modernizing VA Benefits Delivery

Veterans are eligible to apply for many benefits through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), including education, disability compensation, life insurance, pension, home loan guaranty benefits, and more. To help Veterans apply and receive VA benefits more efficiently, VA’s Office of Information and Technology (OIT), Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), and Debt Management Center (DMC) have been working to create innovative technology solutions.

With more than 1 million total claims processed by VBA each year, it’s vital that Veterans have the tools they need to access the benefits they’ve earned and deserve.

Together, OIT and VBA are modernizing VA systems to help provide a better experience for both Veterans seeking benefits and VA staff administering them.

One-stop access to education benefits-
The multi-year modernization initiative of the GI Bill® provides nearly 1 million students annually with an online platform to access and manage VA education benefits. This system helps deliver real-time eligibility and enrollment processing; more timely and accurate claims processing and payment distribution; immediate access to beneficiary records; and timely communication with beneficiaries via phone, email, text, and chat.

During the phased releases of the Digital GI Bill, OIT focuses on meeting all Veterans’ needs by gathering feedback from students and GI Bill partners to guide the design and development process. Recent updates make applying for the Post 9/11 GI Bill easier by allowing Veterans to access their pre-filled service history and digital Certificate of Eligibility as well as receive same-day eligibility determinations. These enhancements streamline claims processing and enrollments, putting Veterans and their families in control of their benefits on their own time. OIT is continuing to explore new features and ideas received from users, such as a chatbot and secure inbox.

Giving Veterans more control over their claims’ submissions-
As the result of a 2-year collaboration between Veterans, VBA, and OIT, VA launched the Disability Compensation Claim Tool to make submitting disability claims easier and more efficient for Veterans. Paper claims can be tedious and take a frustratingly long time to file, while the self-service tool guides Veterans through a series of user interview questions to make submitting claims easier. VA also produced a video series on using the tool here: https://rly.pt/3M9j6Cm

When Veterans submit claims through this digital capability, the data allows for streamlining the claims via automation, enabling a better end-to-end user experience. The platform allows Veterans to automatically populate their claims forms and easily track their application’s progress.

On average, Veterans submit more than 1,500 benefit claims every day via the Disability Compensation Claim Tool. Much of the tool’s success is because VA used human-centered design principles to build it—working alongside Veterans and using their advice and feedback to guide decisions specific to design, features, and functionality. By designing the product based on Veteran research and experiences, VA was able to build and deliver a capability that works best for Veterans. To evolve and improve VA’s digital tools, ongoing user feedback and testing continue to be part of OIT’s digital transformation strategy and delivery approach.

Managing VA debt made easier-
In January 2021, OIT launched VA's online Debt Management Tool, which provides Veterans with a central location to access and manage their debt information. Rather than relying solely on paper notification letters, Veterans can access the tool using their VA.gov login to view the status and balance of their VA debt. Since launching the online debt management tool, more than 1.5 million Veterans have accessed their account information.
Find VA's online Debt Managament Tool here: https://rly.pt/VAdebt

The Debt Management Tool also provides general information about flexible repayment options, disputing a debt, and requesting assistance. This technology provides Veterans with more control and transparency over their financial wellbeing. Additionally, Veterans who share their email addresses with VA receive an email notification when a new debt occurs. Since launching email notifications in April 2021, VA has sent more than 894,000 messages—a huge win for streamlining communication with Veterans.

For Veterans experiencing financial hardship and who want to seek a waiver or other relief from VA debt (such as for VBA overpayments or VA health care co-pays), the online debt management tool also has an option to streamline hardship requests. It’s the first time Veterans can view and request hardship assistance in one central location. The electronic tool makes it easier and more efficient than manually filling out the VA Form 5655 Financial Status Report (FSR). By submitting requests electronically, VA immediately receives the information and routes it for processing. In the first year, VA received more than 7,000 electronic waiver requests, accounting for one third of all such requests received. In May 2022, Veterans started receiving email receipts verifying VA received the submission. DMC and OIT worked with Veterans using their advice and feedback to guide design and functionality of this new feature to make it faster and easier to use.

It’s just the beginning-
Creating delightful end-user experiences for VA’s customers is one of OIT’s top priorities in its Vision for Digital Transformation. To enhance VA’s digital products and services, OIT identifies, evaluates, and implements emerging technologies by incorporating the Veteran’s voice during development. This means shifting focus to more customer-centric products influenced by Veteran feedback, so the Veteran community has products and services they enjoy using to effectively meet their goals.

The collaborative efforts and accomplishments between VBA and OIT showcase VA’s commitment to deliver best-in-class services for Veterans, Service members, and their families. Learn more about VA benefits available to Veterans and about VA’s ongoing digital transformation activities by visiting the VBA website and the DigitalVA website.

Submitted by VA’s Office of Information and Technology (OIT), Washington, DC.